7:00 pm
Sunday, January 19th, 1913

Jack, Rose, Lilly, Charlie, Paul, and Anna were all sitting around the Dawson's living room, talking and taking turns holding little Molly. The four friends of the Dawsons were spending time with the new baby for the first time. Right after her birth, Jack turned down visitors. Rose had been too exhausted to socialize, and they both wanted to spend time with their daughter privately before showing her off to the world. Because of this, visitors had been streaming in and out of the Dawson house all day, excited to finally get the chance to see little Molly. The residents of Chippewa Falls who had known Jack when he was younger were ecstatic when he had returned to town back in April with a wife, and now they all wanted to see the brand new addition.

Later on in the evening, Lilly and Anna had come over with a dinner that they had worked to prepare and their husbands in tow. Knowing that Rose had just given birth, the women wanted to take some of the workload off of her and Jack and do some cooking. Rose and Jack were delighted to not have to worry about making a meal for the evening and instead get to spend some quality time with their friends and family. The six friends sat down for dinner together, and had retreated to the living room after finishing their meal to spend time with Molly.

"Molly looks a lot like you did when you were younger, Jack," Paul commented suddenly, holding Molly in his arms. "She has your eyes and nose." Charlie nodded, agreeing. Her face definitely looked like Jack's did when the men were younger. Paul handed the baby to Anna, who immediately grinned, excited to hold the baby for the first time.

"She definitely does have quite a few of Jack's features. Especially those blue eyes," Rose agreed, making Jack blush slightly at the compliment. He knew how much Rose loved his eyes, and how happy she was to see that their daughter had inherited the trait.

"Hi there, little Molly," Anna whispered as she held Molly close. "I'm your Aunt Anna. We're going to have a lot of fun together." Molly opened her eyes and grabbed onto one of Anna's brown curls in response, making Anna laugh before she handed the baby to Lilly so that she could have a turn in holding her.

Lilly held Molly with one arm and pushed a few red curls out of her face with the other. "Hey, Molly. You sure have a lot of hair for a baby!" Lilly exclaimed, making Rose and Jack laugh. It was true. Molly had a lot more hair than most newborn babies did, which almost everyone who had seen her observed. Jack and Rose were ecstatic that she had inherited Rose's red curls, which were so unique. Molly was already beautiful. "It's the exact same color as yours, Rose. She has your mouth, too. I bet she has your smile once she's older."

Rose smiled as Jack put an arm around her. "How'd you notice that?"

"Well, your mouth is shaped different than Jack's, and Molly's matches yours," Lilly explained as she rocked Molly back and forth in her arms.

"Hmm, I guess you're right." Rose smiled as she looked over at the clock. It was almost time to put Molly to bed, even though she would only sleep for a few hours before waking up, wanting to be fed or changed. Rose sighed and closed her eyes for a moment as her friends all swooned over the baby, discussing which of her parents she looked like more. Rose leaned her head against Jack, exhausted from the events of the past two days. Molly was always up in the middle of the night, needing constant attention. Of course, Rose didn't mind tending to her beautiful daughter, whom she loved more than anything in the world, and Jack helped out a lot. Rose was glad that she had Jack, who was already an amazing father. Molly was the apple of his eye. Suddenly, a cry from Molly brought Rose back to the present.

"Here, Lil, I can take her. She needs to be put down for bed now, anyway. I hadn't realized how late it had gotten," Rose said as she got up from the couch and went over to where Lilly was holding Molly. Lilly carefully handed Molly to Rose, who immediately started to comfort her daughter by rocking her back and forth.

Lilly stood up, grabbing Charlie's hand and bringing her up with her. "It's alright, Rose. We better get going anyway," Lilly said quietly as she rubbed her stomach, which was growing everyday. "The baby and I need to get some rest. I'll be over tomorrow, alright?"

Rose nodded, still rocking Molly, who had quieted considerably. "Okay, I'll see you tomorrow."

Lilly and Charlie left the Dawson residence, along with Paul and Anna, who decided that they should go home and let the Dawsons have some time alone with their daughter. There was no doubt that Jack and Rose were exhausted from having so many visitors come and go throughout the day, and they probably wanted to go right to sleep after putting Molly to bed.

Thirty minutes later, Jack and Rose had finally gotten Molly to sleep. Now that the baby was sleeping peacefully, they could crawl into their own bed and get some much needed rest.

"Jack, are you going to the factory tomorrow?" Rose asked as she crawled into bed and pulled the covers over herself. Jack had left work early on Thursday when Rose went into labor, and his boss had let him have Friday off so that he could take care of Rose. Rose had gotten used to having him around constantly the past couple days and wasn't looking forward to him having to work nine hour days again.
Jack crawled into bed next to his wife and put his arms around her. "Nope. Mr. Miller told me when I came in on Friday that I didn't have to come back until Wednesday. He said that you and Molly needed me right now and the factory could do without me for a couple of days."

Rose smiled. She was glad that Jack had such an understanding boss who was willing to let him have some time off to spend with her and their newborn daughter. A lot of bosses would never let a man take time off when his child was born, thinking that child rearing was a woman's job and that the man wasn't needed. Mr. Miller, though stern with his employees, was a very understanding man deep-down, and truly cared for those who worked for him. "Good. Jack, thank you for being there through everything – for the birth, and helping me so much with Molly. You're an amazing dad already."

Jack kissed Rose on the forehead and smiled at her. How could she ever think that he would do anything except be there for her and their daughter? He was so lucky to have two amazing women in his life now. "Rose, I will always be here for you and Molly. I love helping you with her. I don't want you to have to do all of the work – Molly is my daughter, too. I would never not help you."

Rose nuzzled closer to her husband, thankful to have him. She cringed as she thought for a moment how different her life would have been with Cal. Cal would have never helped her take care of a child, and he surely would have complained about what an inconvenience it was to have one. She was so lucky to have a man like Jack, who was willing to help her with everything, especially anything that involved Molly. "I know. I just wanted to say thank you. I love you, Jack."

"And I love you, Rosebud. You know what?"

"What?"

"Molly is only four days old, and I can already tell that she will have your fiery spirit. She's going to be just like you, and I'm going to have two headstrong women to keep up with."

Rose laughed at this, knowing it was true. "Lord help her if she's anything like me, Jack."

Jack laughed for a moment, then pressed his forehead against his wife's and looked at her seriously. "Sweetheart, if Molly is anything like you when she grows up, the world will only be a better place. This world could use more women like you in it, Rose. You're perfect."

Rose replied by kissing her husband on the lips for a moment. "Oh, Jack. You're so good to me," she whispered when she pulled apart from the kiss.

"You deserve it, Rose. I love you more than anything."

"I love you too, Jack," Rose whispered as she leaned over and turned off the lamp that was next to their bed. "Let's try to get some sleep before Molly wakes us up soon."

Jack laughed, putting an arm around Rose and cuddling close to her. "Goodnight, sweetheart."

Later on that night, Rose couldn't sleep. She rolled over and tired to cuddle up next to Jack, but to her surprise, he was not there. Rose sat up and sleepily rubbed her eyes, waking herself up completely. She looked over and saw that the covers on Jack's side of the bed were folded back and his robe was taken off the hook on the closet door. Wondering where her husband could be, Rose got out of bed and walked down the hall. She stopped when she saw that the door to Molly's nursery was wide open. She peeked inside to see Jack sitting in the rocking chair, holding little Molly and rocking her back and forth. Rose stood in the doorway and watched as Jack, who didn't notice her standing there, comforted their crying daughter.

"Shh, little Molly, don't cry. We don't wanna wake Mommy up," Jack whispered as he continued to rock his daughter in his arms. Molly continued to wail. "Hmm, let's see, Molly. I just gave you a bottle, so you can't be hungry. You don't need your diaper changed. What's wrong, sweetie? Do you just want someone to hold you?"

Rose continued to watch from the doorway as Jack cradled Molly in his arms, whispering soothingly to the small infant. Jack quietly started to sing to their daughter, trying to get her to calm down. "Come Josephine in my flying machine, going up she goes, up she goes…"

Molly's loud wails slowly turned to small whimpers, until the small baby was fast asleep in her father's arms. Jack continued to sing to her until he saw that she had fallen asleep. He kissed Molly's tiny forehead before placing her in the small bassinet. "I love you, Molly, so much. Sweet dreams, sweetheart."

Jack was surprised when he felt his wife's arms around him as he stared down at his sleeping daughter. "You're a good singer, Jack," Rose whispered teasingly.

Jack blushed and leaned into his wife's embrace. "How long have you been awake?"

Rose smiled. "I was standing in the doorway for awhile, watching. You didn't notice me standing there, huh?"

"No, I didn't," Jack whispered, turning around and giving his wife a kiss on the forehead.

"You're so good with her, Jack. Molly loves her daddy."

"Well, she loves her mommy, too. You're an amazing mom, Rose. Molly is lucky to have someone was wonderful as you."

Rose blushed and embraced her husband, leaning her head on his shoulder and looking over at her sleeping daughter. "I love you, little Molly."

"I guess we should get to bed, huh? We don't want to wake our daughter up," Jack whispered.

"I think you're right, love," Rose whispered as she pulled out of their embrace and took her husband's hand in hers. Jack and Rose whispered one last quiet good night to their daughter before Rose let Jack lead her back to their bedroom. As soon as they made it back to their bedroom, the exhausted couple immediately collapsed in their bed. Jack pulled Rose into his arms and allowed her to fall asleep on his chest to the sound of his breathing. Jack laid awake for quite awhile, just watching his beautiful wife sleep, before drifting into his own peaceful slumber, with nobody on his mind but Rose and Molly.

A/N: Sorry for the slow update, I've been really busy lately! So, I have some pretty exciting plans coming up for this story, but I'm open to any ideas, criticisms, or suggestions. Let me know if you have anything to say in regards to this story! Hope ya'll are enjoying it, because I'm having a lot of fun writing it. Review please!